​​​"This must be a National Park for the people for all time."

So declared Gustav Weindorfer from the summit of Cradle Mountain in 1910. It is now one of Australia's most famous national parks, protecting a grand glaciated landscape and the wonderful flora and fauna it contains.
parks.tas.gov.au/explore-our-parks/cradle-mountain
adb.anu.edu.au/biography/weindorfer-gustav-9038

It has been a National Park since 1947. Recently the new visitor centre was opened. Here visitors can park their car and take the shuttle bus the rest of the 8 kilometre journey to Dove Lake.

If you look closely at these photos you'll see it has started snowing. That's how we begin our story of the Cradle Mountain National Park.

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To put our journey to Cradle Mountain National Park into some context I'll show you this panoramic view from the Great Western Tiers looking out towards the Cradle Mountain National Park (see the snow capped mountain range in the distance).

The five photos used in this panorama were all taken with the Leica D-Lux 7. I used the Panini projection to stitch them together. The Panini projection is regarded as the most accurate representation of the scene. I have deliberately left the projection frame in place to accentuate this wrap-around effect. As you can see it makes the scene look almost three dimensional, and is used extensively in video gaming visuals. Regular panoramic stitches often distort the edges severely. This is not the case with the Panini projection.
wiki.panotools.org/The_General_Panini_Projection

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The weather at Cradle Mountain can change in a heartbeat, sometimes with tragic results for unprepared walkers.
www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-15/bushwalkers-remembered-hal...

Blizzards have been known to strike even in summer. Our visit was in early spring and the day started out in sunshine. As the afternoon unfolded the clouds moved in driven by strong winds from the south-west.

This short video shows how quickly the storm progressed. Cradle Mountain disappeared in blizzard conditions, waves were whipped up on Dove Lake, and then the driven snow arrived where I was standing.

This video was shot with both my Nikon D850 and Samsung Galaxy A15. It was edited on VideoPad Video Editor.

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As the title of my photograph suggests the strong winds brought with them clouds from the south-west that caused a blizzard on the mountain within an hour of this composition. The light is due to the sun behind me shining against the prevailing weather front.

Cradle Mountain is a true alpine environment. Although not as high as the mountains of the eastern Australian mainland highlands - with an elevation of just 1545 metres (5069 feet) - its latitude of 41 degrees south and its location on the Central Highlands Plateau exposed to the Roaring Forties and weather from Antarctica, guarantee a real alpine experience.

Furthermore, unlike the Australian mainland, this region was forged in volcanic fire and then these rocks were carved out by massive glaciers which remained until about 20,000 years ago towards the end of the last Ice Age. That's why it is so rugged and beautiful out here.

Dove Lake is a crater that was carved out by the glacier that ran down the right side of Cradle Mountain and is one of many such lakes in the region. The largest and deepest of which is Lake St Clair (which I have featured previously). www.flickr.com/photos/luminosity7/albums/72157716211325373/

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The rocks that make up the base of the landscape in the Cradle Mountain National Park were all forged in volcanic fire. In many places the solidified lava (mostly dolerite) can be seen as it was millions of years ago. However, during the last Ice Age, which started to end about 20,000 years ago, huge glaciers carved out the valleys and craters in the park, forming deep depressions that are now filled with water. They are among the deepest lakes in Australia (effectively inland fjords).

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